The Workshare Blog

Melting Sea Ice Meets Growing Business Concerns

The latest environmental reports are saying the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has melted to its smallest point ever, breaking the record set in 2007. And according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center and the Nasa space agency, it’s likely that the ice will melt even further over the coming weeks. It’s a reminder that it’s more important than ever to be aware of our environmental impact. However, for businesses, when next year’s budget is on the line, changing working habits is a no mean feat. Although many employees are concerned, particularly Generation Y, the pressure of meeting deadlines often trumps environmental concerns. What’s more, rather than trying to change a few mindsets, businesses are challenged to change the way all the employees in a company operate.

Here are some simple steps that businesses can take to find the balance between social obligation and workable solutions in a world where there is an increasing volume and velocity of documents and content (presentations, spreadsheets, designs, graphics, reports, proposals, and multimedia files) sent via Email and VPNs, as well as being physically transported:

Make staff environmentally aware of their personal work station. Business can promote awareness by involving staff members in their initiative. For example, in our office, employees are reminded through internal presentations and friendly posters around the office to recycle food cartons, product packaging, and office paper as well as to turn off computers and lights at night.

Encourage employees to reduce courier services and overnight deliveries. By minimizing these services, businesses can reduce pollution and fossil fuel consumption. Delivering data online is both a fast and an environmentally friendly solution.

Avoid travelling to meetings whenever possible. Meetings can be held online to conserve fossil fuel consumption and cut down pollution and ultimately reduce the carbon footprint

Reduce data storage consumption by finding an alternative to email exchange. It can be tricky trying to reduce data storage when editing documents and communicating via email since it’s typical for many versions to be created and stored in multiple in boxes and sent items. However, it's proven that using alternatives to email will cut down on the space used – and the energy needed to keep unnecessary data.

Many businesses are looking at their collaboration solutions as a way to help reduce their carbon footprint and conserve resources. At Workshare, we are conscious that many of our customers use our product because they are looking for a sustainable way to reduce their environmental impact. Workshare is committed to minimizing its own carbon footprint in its own operations, as well as helping customers reduce their environmental impact when creating, sharing, and storing files.

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